Dr. Ignacio Ponseti is an internationally famous physician and surgeon specializing in the treatment and management of a childhood deformity commonly know as a club foot. Dr. Ponseti has for many decades promoted the use of a foot and ankle abduction device, or orthosis, that is used to correct and prevent relapses of the club foot deformity. These abduction devices typically consist of a rigid bar connected between shoes worn by the child which bar separates the feet of the child and holds the feet in an outward rotation or abduction. Typically, if the condition is diagnosed early enough, this device is worn full-time for a period of months, but during the period of treatment, the angle of outward rotation is periodically adjusted.
The Ponseti technique, as it has become known throughout the world, has been highly successful in treating club feet without the necessity of corrective surgery. Many devices have been designed and used for many years in applying the Ponseti technique. Currently used devices that apply the Ponseti technique are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,267,657. In this patent, there are disclosed improvements in such devices which provide for quick release of the shoes from the abduction bar and which also provide a method for varying the abduction angle and locking it in place at a selected angle. Devices of this type have been extremely successful and are widely used by those who treat patients using the Ponseti technique. However, the devices are relatively expensive, and in many countries throughout the world, the cost prohibits widespread usage. There is therefore a need for an improved but yet relatively inexpensive orthosis for use in treating club feet using the Ponseti technique.